Kenyan runner John Korir has won the Boston Marathon for the second year in a row — and this time he did it in record-setting fashion.
Korir crossed the finish line Monday morning with a time of 2 hours, 1 minute, 52 seconds, shattering the previous course record of of 2:03:02 set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011. It’s the fifth fastest marathon of all time.
Mutai was actually bumped down to fourth on the all-time list as all of the top three finishers from the 2026 men’s race beat his previous record time. Tanzania’s Alphonce Felix Simbu came in second (2:02:47) and Kenya’s Benson Kipruto was third (2:02:50).
Korir pulled away from the pack as the group was approaching the Heartbreak Hill area between miles 20 and 21. After the race, he told reporters that he had no idea he had set a new course record until after he crossed the finish line.
“I knew I would defend my title, but I didn’t know I could run my fastest,” Korir said. “So for me, it was just go and defend my title, but the time came, so I’m happy.”
Korir receives $150,000 for winning the race and another $50,000 for setting a new course record.
Fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi also was a repeat winner in the women’s race. Her time of 2:18:51 is the second-fastest in race history, behind her 2025 time of 2:17:22. She was followed across the finish line by three countrywomen. Loice Chemnung stayed close to Lokedi before fading late to finish in second place (2:19:35). Mary Ngugi-Cooper was third (2:20:07) and Mercy Chelangat fourth (2:20:30).
“It feels great,” Lokedi said of defending her title. “I ‘m really happy with it. I feel like this course challenges you so much, and with the help of people and all the cheers of the course, it makes it special, so I’m really grateful.”
Like Korir, Lokedi receives $150,000 for winning the race.
New course records for U.S. runners also were set, as Zouhair Talbi finished the men’s race in 2:03:45 and Jess McClain finished the women’s race in 2:20:49. Both runners placed fifth in their respective races.
“I knew it was going to be tailwind, which is an advantage for us to run a fast time,” Talbi told reporters after the race,” but the pace is determined by the leaders, and at this point you just want to follow the pace. A lot of athletes were pushing the pace early on, and … I was like, ‘Yeah, today’s going to be a fast time.’”
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair division with a time of 1:16:06. It’s his fourth straight Boston Marathon victory and ninth time overall, bringing him within one victory of tying South African great Ernst van Dyk for most wheelchair division wins in race history.
Britain’s Eden Rainbow-Cooper won the women’s wheelchair division in 1:30:51, two years after winning the race for the first time. She and Hug each receive $50,000 for winning their races.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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